Need for ‘balance’

Anon-country manager is urging climbers and Natimuk residents to be patient as archaeological surveys starting today see popular rock climbing sites closed until mid-2021.

Barengi Gadjin Land Council on-country operations manager Stuart Harradine has stressed temporary closures at six sites in Mount Arapiles-tooan State Park and Black Range State Park, south of Horsham, would not mark an end to recreational climbing.

BGLC will complete archaeological assessments of stone quarry sites where tools, such as sharp-edged knives and spear-heads for cutting and hunting, were manufactured.

An outpouring of anxiety from Natimuk residents and climbers across Australia followed the announcement last week, which will see iconic climbing areas such as a 200-metre section along the base of Arapiles known as Tiger Wall, closed. The closures also include other areas known to climbers as Mr Chicken, Plaque Wall and Lil Lil.

Mr Harradine said the land council would work with the Natimuk community and climbers to ensure climbing could co-exist alongside the protected sites.

“We want to make the message really clear, we’re not about closing down recreational activities. We want to find a balance,” he said.

“We want to do these assessments as soon as possible so we can provide certainty around where people can climb.”

The land council has been working with Gariwerd Wimmera Reconciliation Network to help identify popular climbing routes.

Mr Harradine said this process would help to provide a solution that worked for both climbers and Traditional Owners.

“The network is providing us with very good information in relation to where climbs are so that we can make informed decisions around both the site protection as well as where recreational activities can still occur,” he said.

Mr Harradine said it would be crucial that First Nations people play a key role in the reidentification and protection of cultural heritage at Mount Arapiles.

“We’re talking about places that have been there for potentially thousands of years. They are of huge historical, cultural and spiritual importance to our people. It’s actually really hard to fully express this to non-aboriginal people,” he said.

“I hear climbers say they don’t understand what we’re protecting. With rock-art sites it seems fairly simple and clear, but when we talk about quarry sites climbers might look at that as different. But even under the Aboriginal Heritage Act, all sites are of equal status. A rock-art site is as important as a quarry site in terms of protection.”

‘Devasting blow’

Veteran climber and Mount Arapiles-tooan State Park Advisory committee member Keith Lockwood said the closures were a ‘devastating blow’ for Natimuk and climbers across Australia.

Mr Lockwood argued that climbers must be part of the decision-making process.

“There’s no room for negotiation at all on it,” he said.

“The Natimuk community, the Victorian Climbing Club and the advisory group should be at the forefront of the investigation, the consultations and the decision making, rather than being dictated to at the end,” he said.

“That’s where goodwill falls down. If we could talk to them before the gate shuts and the decisions are made, the community would welcome and accept change.”

Mr Lockwood said the predominant style of climbing people partook in at Mount Arapiles, known as traditional climbing, was harmless to the rock.

“That gear is retrieved and reused after the climb and leaves the rock untouched,” he said.

“I’ve been going out there for 60 years and the only damage I see is from natural occurrences when there’s erosion from a sudden flood and rocks get washed from ledges, from bushfires, or wildlife such as kangaroos that are leading contributors to any damage out there.”

Mr Lockwood said he was ‘deeply concerned’ with how the closures would impact Natimuk community economically.

“Tiger Wall is the biggest cliff at Arapiles, it has a tremendous number of classic climbs,” he said.

“We’re confronted with these blanket bans and these huge fines if anyone steps out of line. There’s a huge impact on the economy of Natimuk and the livelihoods of many people in Natimuk.”